Saturday, February 25, 2006

Visas? We Doan Need No Stinkin' Visas! pt 9

They're talking about illegal immigration on Fox today, and they brought up the strawman of how the illegal immigrants help our economy.

That is complete bullshit.

Any possible benefit the US economy receives from illegal immigration is geometrically outweighed by the drain they represent on our economy.

The only benefit they provide is a source of cheap labor. But this effect is not as large as it used to be. There is quite a large demand for this labor, and that demand is driving the pay of illegal immigrants up. In fact in the central valley of California this year, crops are rotting in the fields because they can't hire enough migrants to pick them.

The costs of this illegal immigration are myriad. First, the public services these illegal immigrants consume are a drain on our economy and taxpayers. The liberal judges have ruled that we have to give these criminals (they by definition have broken our laws) free medical care, education and in many cases welfare. Most of them work on the underground economy, so you can not even argue that they pay their fair share of taxes. They don't pay payroll taxes at all. Secondly, much of the money they earn is not plowed back into our economy to create new jobs and wealth, but instead is sent to Mexico, where it props up the corrupt regime. Money wire transfers from the US is now Mexico's second biggest source of income, behind only oil exports. We are talking billions of dollars. Thirdly the presence of so many unskilled workers drives down the wages for American citizens.

So let's lay that strawman to rest, illegal immigration DOES NOT benefit the US economy.

6 comments:

no argument with the general substance of your post. i agree that illegals are a drain on the economy and the country as a whole.

however, rather than blaming this ALL, as you seem to be doing, on your favorite whipping boys, the "liberal activist judge," you should also assign SOME of the blame to republicans. despite controlling the presidency, and both branches of congress by wide margins, they have sat on this issue for five years and done nothing substantial to rectify it.

Make no mistake, Illegal immigration is one of the areas in which I and the president part ways. In some of my other posts on this blog I have quite clearly criticized the president and the Republican party for their position on illegal immigration.

However, Prop 209 here in California, and similar laws in other states were overturned by liberal judges, not the president or Congress. So the fact that illegal immigrants are acting as parasites is exclusively the fault of liberal judges.

i disagree. if this were simply a judicial issue, the focus would be impeaching these judges and replacing them with ones who would rule in favor of americans. there would be no need to build walls, add border agents, etc. it's a two-way street, and neither side is doing their job thus far.

This post was focused on the narrow issue of the economic effects of illegal immigration, not the broader issue of illegal immigration as a whole. Given the fact that the people, and some of their legislators have tried to pass laws to minimize the economic impact of illegal immigrants, only to have them overturned by liberal judges; I think my concentration on the role of liberal judges is appropriate.

In other posts I have expressed my views on the broader issue, and my solutions. It includes a border wall, better enforcement, deportation, and most importantly either eliminating or punitively taxing the transfer of funds to Mexico.

even limiting the discussion to your narrow framing, it still doesn't get republicans off the hook. it's their pro-employer element in congress, and the president, who keep pushing the "guest-worker" program as a vital component of any federal legislation and promoting the myth that illegals are good for the economy as a whole. if memory serves me correctly, the House passed a tough bill which isn't going to go anywhere because it doesn't allow for guest-workers...

As I've said before, I make no attempt to defend the president or many Republicans on the issue of illegal immigration. I have in fact attacked them for their policies elsewhere on this blog. But not one of the laws that limited government aid to illegal immigrants were overturned by Republicans, they were all overturned by Democrat appointed liberal judges.